Super Marvelous
by veraklon
Summary: Melinda May, having just recently switched from former Director Phil Coulson over to Director Robert Gonzalez's version of S.H.I.E.L.D. and away from all of the alien nonsense, is suddenly thrust into a whole new level of alien crazy that is of the "changing of Earth's destiny" kind of thing. Just who exactly is this strange visitor from another planet?
1. Strange Visitor From Another

Trying to stave off the migraine that she could feel just waiting to strike, Melinda May continued to avert her eyes from the computer monitor in front of her, praying to whatever god might be listening at that moment, hoping that what she was reading would soon vanish. Taking another deep breath, she blinked her eyes several times before once again returning her attention to what Director Robert Gonzalez had forwarded to her to look over.

In a world of Avengers and ancient gods come to life… and Alien invasions and turning teammates Meta, Melinda wondered how anything could surprise her anymore. It almost seemed impossible, but she couldn't help but to be amazed at what she was reading. Sometimes the truth was so much scarier than the party line.

Last week, the life on Earth had changed... everyone knew that. What only a select few knew was how much their world had been altered. And no one was yet sure if it was for the better or the worse.

The general populace believed that an area just east of the Australian continent, somewhere in the middle of the Indian Ocean, had suffered an unexpected and unforeseen meteor strike of only-seen-in-movies proportions. The resulting tidal wave caused by the impact ravaged the coasts of Australia, Africa and southern Asia, and nearly decimated Madagascar, Japan and the Indonesian islands area… with some of the smaller islands being completely destroyed. Whole countries that had once held thriving cities and populations were wiped out in an instant: thousands upon thousands of lives lost and possibly billions upon billions of dollars in damages.

And the effects of the impact had carried over to all of the other land masses across the world. The West coast of the United States and Mexico recorded flooding across most of its borders, while the eastern border of South America had to deal with harsh tides, as well. No one was safe from the ramifications of such an attack. Not to mention almost every naval craft outside of the Atlantic had been hit and hit hard. Even now, rescue attempts were going on to help capsized and broken ships, both military and civilian.

The past eight days since the event, society had done exactly what it often did in times of crisis: it panicked. Every news agency was reporting looting and rioting in the streets. Citizens were clamoring for answers regarding missing loved ones. Governments everywhere were activating their armed forces, both to protect their interests abroad, as well as helping maintain the peace domestically. States of Emergency were now the status quo. And nobody was talking to anybody else. There were almost no open lines of communication between nations… and the Doomsday Clock was literally only one tick away from Armageddon.

Melinda was tempted to almost laugh aloud, considering how much the pre-Hydra S.H.I.E.L.D. was needed now more than ever. But maybe it was best that no one was talking, or else the world might know that the truth of what happened was even more terrifying than a random chuck of space debris hitting us.

No. Looking over the reports and pictures and eye witness testimonies, Melinda May could only watch and be amazed at the events as they occurred: eight days ago, the Earth was struck by a humanoid figure, a twenty-something female in appearance; that apparently entered the atmosphere through a portal of some type and at a velocity hard enough to almost break the planet.

Immediate thoughts were of another Alien attack, such as how the Chitauri had come through over New York City, but that had been quickly dismissed after initial testing by Stark Technologies had proven that the energy field created from the portal was of a completely different power signature. And besides, the Tesseract was safely off planet, as far as anyone in the know knew.

But talking about the Tesseract brought up thoughts of Thor and Asgard. The Norse godling had already shown that there was technology that allowed for teleportation between realms... both in New Mexico during his first visit, and then later in London when that giant black rock of an alien ship was looking to plunge the universe into eternal darkness. It was a theory that was still being considered, especially with what had come through the portal, but Doctor Foster was adamant that the alien female wasn't from her boyfriend's home world.

So far, no one really had any clue as to who the young woman was or where she was from, though everyone in the know wanted to claim her. Luckily, the first on the scene of point zero the S.H.I.E.L.D. controlled aircraft carrier, the Iliad, and that meant the stranger was under their jurisdiction… at least until someone higher up the chain of command finally took notice. Unfortunately, the eight days that S.H.I.E.L.D. had the young woman in their custody, she had remained unresponsive to all attempts at reviving her. Though she wasn't awake yet, she had already turned the whole team investigating her on their proverbial heads.

Nothing invasive worked on her.

When she'd been picked up, floating at the epicenter of where the falling object struck, all initial readings were off the scale of anything ever seen before. While the young woman appeared to be breathing, visual inspections showed her to have suffered the obviousness of extreme trauma. Her body was covered in cuts and bruises, with various signs of potentially broken bones. The nose seemed broken, as well as the entire left hand and lower arm. Her torso and back were covered in obvious bruises and cuts.

Medical treatment began immediately, but all attempts at entering an IV or injecting her failed. Nothing could get past her skin outside of where it had been already damaged, but those were quickly closing. So far, they had to depend upon oxygen masks and oral medications to say that they were doing anything potentially positive.

X-Rays and thermal scans were confusing. She ran hot, like well over one hundred degrees, with no other obvious signs of it being a fever. Initial reports said she was human in appearance, and with what little the x-rays could see, it seemed her internal organs and bone structure all seemed to be of a similar design to our own, but with various small differences. Dr. Anne Weaver had jokingly stated it was almost as if both she and humanity were created by the same divine builder, though at different times and different places with different intent.

(Melinda made a mental note to get Fitz and Simmons read in on their alien, to see if maybe they could get better results. She knew Dr. Weaver trusted her two best students from the Academy.)

DNA swabs from the interior of her mouth, as well as testing the blood soaking through her tattered uniform, all helped to confirm that she was definitely an alien, and one that was not from anywhere close to here.

And the clothing she was wearing… at least, what was left of it all, also was causing some raised eyebrows. It was obviously a costume, much like what she'd seen Captain America wearing. Tear resistant material, all seemingly Earth made, with Bluetooth technology built in, except for the remains of what appeared to have once been a red cape or cloak of some sort. No one had been able to determine what that had been made of, but the fact that it was left in tatters suggested that the alien woman had been through some type of Hell before crash landing here.

Melinda considered trying to contact Phil Coulson; her former partner, friend and the once Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., to see what his thoughts on this might be, but ultimately discarded the idea. His recent obsession with alien technology, specifically with what was happening regarding Skye, unfortunately made his opinion suspect. That, and the fact that he was nowhere to be found for questioning regarding the various secrets he'd been keeping, was certainly cause to not involve him. Besides, his unwillingness to work with Director Gonzalez and the Council simply meant he would not be a part of what was happening.

Any further musing she might have had was interrupted by the phone next to her computer. Making sure to take a moment to close the "for her eyes only" documents, she swiveled her chair around and picked up before it could ring again.

"Yes?"

"Agent May?" the unrecognized voice inquired.

"Yes."

"The alien is awake."

Finally.

…

The darkened room was awash with the eerie glow computer monitors, each screen offering either one the different live feeds of what showed a young, blonde woman asleep in a bed; or was currently running a loop from previous interviews of said blonde. From Melinda's perspective, the majority of the small assembly was focused on the central screen, or to be more indelicate about it, the one with the best view of the girl sleeping in the bed.

No. Not creepy at all.

So far, it had been about forty minutes of what she would consider wasted time, as she had already read over the various transcripts of interviews with… Melinda paused to recall the name the alien

"What do we know so far? Bobbi Morse asked as she turned from the viewing screen.

It took some effort, but Melinda was able to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at the other Agent's question. They both had been forwarded the same files. It was Mack that filled in the silence that the blonde's question had created.

"Between moments of clarity, in and out of consciousness, she reported her name as Carol Danvers. A search found a Colonel Carol Danvers of the United States Air Force, retired in 1966. She then went to work for NASA as security chief of a classified base." He looked at Gonzalez. "We're digging get into that. Later, Ms. Danvers was involved in an unexplained explosion on base in 1968. Initial reports are that her blood work came back changed. She vanished a few months later."

"It couldn't be the same person. That girl in there is twenty-five, at most. She's not some seventy-something Air Force colonel."

Melinda could see that the others were in agreement. As a counterpoint, she decided to join the conversation. "And Captain Steve Rogers looks maybe thirty. And Thor? Twenty-eight, if a day. He's probably hundreds of years old. Thousands."

The Director was nodding along with her.

"We don't really know anything about her, at all."

"What about photos?" Oliver inquired.

"A few." Anne answered. "But the ones from her military career and NASA are currently classified. We're going off of ones from family and friends. And while she's blonde, maybe a similar build, it's just such poor quality to be sure."

Robert Gonzalez sighed. "Are we thinking alien? Or enhanced human?"

Bobbi snorted. "Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters." Anne responded. "And with blood and tissue samples we've taken, she's most definitely not human. Not even a changed human."

"Explain."

She turned from talking to Bobbi, and gave her attention to the Director. "Sir, I've studied trace DNA from both Dr. Banner and his Hulk persona, compared those with Blonsky after his metamorphosis. I was even consulted on some Chitauri remains.

"That girl is like nothing I've ever seen. Even T.A.H.I.T.I. cannot compare."

At T.A.H.I.T.I., Melinda straightened up. "Kree? Are you comparing her to Kree?"

"No. Not Kree. Not Chitauri. Not anything like we have ever encountered." She took a deep breath. "Ms. Danvers is so beyond both of them that I think she might even be a god to the Asgardians."

"Is she a threat?"

"That's what we need to find out."

Tomas Calderon threw down his file on the desk. "I'll tell you what she is. She's crazy. Certifiably insane. Asking about Made up cities and towns. Wondering about Kat Grace or something like that. Some business for cocoa. No such places. And the people she's asking for don't exist."

Mack flipped through his copy of the files. "I think you're misquoting her. Yeah, she said..."

"Don't care. We have nothing concrete on her, just a maybe name and history. And even that's preliminary, what with the devastation she caused. We're lucky our contacts on the mainland can be reached."

Tomas pointed at the monitor with the live feed. "She's dangerous. More than Coulson's agenda and secrets."

"Let's find out." Director Gonzalez answered.

...

Against her better judgment, the Director went through the door first. It was probably fairly safe, maybe, but considering that none of the information provided by the girl inside the room could be verified… in fact, like Tomas was spouting, most of it was gibberish and nonsense, there was just no way to offer any assurance that any of them were out of danger.

She immediately took in the room as the door opened inward. She knew that she and Bobbi looked anything but hospitable, although Director Gonzalez did not look nearly as dangerous as she knew him to be. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents were rarely not able to defend themselves… Melinda just didn't have any idea of what they could be facing. As they had discussed, Gonzalez took the lead while she and Bobbi took up guard duty. Bobbi was at the door and Melinda took the far corner of the room. From their vantage points, they should be able to hold the room long enough for reinforcements, if it was needed.

"Hi." The young woman on the bed offered, as she smiled. Cute and innocent. Melinda didn't believe it for a moment.

Robert Gonzalez tilted his head at her greeting. "Hello, Ms. Danvers." He replied, his voice quiet and dark. "I was hoping, now that you are awake, if we might have a conversation."

"Sure."

He gestured to the chair by the desk in the corner of the room. "May I?"

"Oh. Of course. Please sit down."

"Thank you." Melinda couldn't keep a consistent watch at Gonzalez's face, as he was turned slightly away from her, but she was sure that he had smiled at Ms. Danvers as he sat, based on the blonde's reaction.

"Do you mind if I call you Carol, Ms. Danvers?

The woman looked perplexed, "Why would you call me Carol?"

At her inquiry, Gonzalez looked over towards Bobbi, who had pulled out a small tablet from her belt, and started reading from it. "Carol Danvers…"

"Oh, no…" she interrupted. "Kara L. Danvers. The L stands for Linda, my middle name. Not Carol. And technically, Danvers was my foster family's name. I took it to better blend into my new home."

"Make a note of that, please." He stated. Bobbi furiously begin typing on the tablet, while Kara watched. Melinda gave a hard glare at where one of the cameras was hidden. She hoped whoever was watching knew she wasn't happy. All of the research and arguments... all for naught. They hadn't even gotten her name right.

Robert, on the other hand, didn't miss a beat. "So, Ms. Danvers, might I call you Kara?"

She nodded. "Of course."

"My name is Robert Gonzalez. I am the current Director of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division; or for short, S.H.I.E.L.D." He paused for a moment. "While in the past, we were a recognized Agency that's roots began in the United States and that eventually maintained a worldwide presence… it unfortunately fell under the weight of its own hubris, forced to change or be ultimately eliminated. Now, we are now more of what we started as in the beginning: a small unit of like-minded individuals dedicated to helping keep the peace from those threats not normally understood nor prepared for by the governments of the world. And while in days past, that might have once meant eliminating a threat first and seeking answers after, we have painfully learned that attempting such can often lead to unforeseen and sometimes easily avoided."

"Wow."

Melinda couldn't help it. She snickered. Kara blushed.

"Indeed." Gonzalez answered. "So, you can understand our concerns regarding you."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. From what we have been able to piece together, you are most likely not a native of this planet, nor from this galaxy." The young woman was nodding along with what he was saying, unconsciously confirming their hypothesis: alien, not enhanced human.

"Please, let's not be coy, Kara." He moved his hand up to straighten his glasses before he turned to face Kara Danvers directly.

"Roughly eight days ago, you came to our world through what we can only describe as a wormhole, the results of which have been catastrophic, to say the least." The blonde girl paled drastically. "At this time, your very existence is known to a select few that are deemed trustworthy."

"I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Indeed." He repeated. "We don't know the origin point of the portal you arrived from, nor your purpose in coming here. Frankly, you're an enigma that we must solve."

Kara took a very deep breath of air. "What can I do to help?"

"Answers, Kara. We have questions. And the answers you have been providing while you healed, at an amazing rate... Well, your answers are causing more questions than we started with."

"I don't know what's so hard about my answers. You know my name is Kara Danvers, which I really wish you didn't, but that cat's out of the bag. My sister is Alex Danvers. I now work as a junior editor at CatCo in National City. I was formerly the executive assistant for Cat Grant. She, alone, should be able to verify who I am."

She took a breath. "Or Clark Kent in Metropolis. He can confirm who I am."

Melinda watched as Gonzalez sat back in his chair. "Kara. You've given us most of this already. There is no CatCo. No Cat Grant. Nor a National City. No Midvale. No Alex Danvers, at least, not a female one that knows you. Your references don't exist."

The young girl slumped her shoulders. "Barry Allen? Central City? He works for the see see pee dee?"

"There's not a Central City..." Bobbi checked her tablet. "A Bartholomew Allen. Pennsylvania. Owns a grocery store. Married twice, three kids one granddaughter."

Kara was shaking her head. "I thought it'd be cool; be like Flash and travel new worlds... Maybe, but this kind of sucks."

"What do you mean?" Melinda wanted to know.

"A few months ago, I met a superhero named Flash. He'd never heard of me and I'd never heard of him. We were both claiming to be famous, worldwide, but we hadn't heard of each other. That's when Barry... The Flash, he explained that there is a whole multiverse of realities, hundreds upon hundreds. He'd accidentally traveled to mine."

"And you decided to, what? Visit his?" Bobbi sounded mad. Melinda couldn't blame her. If this alien girl had caused so much pain on a whim...

"No. No way." Kara seemed offended. "It might've sounded cool, but no way. I was in a fight with, well, I'm not sure who. Kal-El called. Ships were attacking. We were finally winning when there was some weird explosion."

"And?"

"And I woke up here, on this boat. That's it."

Robert Gonzalez took off his glasses. "Your story is you're from another Earth? Do you understand how that sounds?"

"Do you have heroes here? Super-powered people? You want to tell me about their perfectly normal way of being who they are?" Even Melinda fidgeted at Kara's point. Skye's story alone, which Melinda had sort of been involved in, sounded like a science fiction tale.

"Well?" Kara continued, "You kind of tipped your hand with that explanation about S.H.I.E.L.D. and stuff."

Gonzalez conceded. "Point well made."

"Near as I can tell, I'm from an Earth in another universe. A statement I can honestly say I never expected to come out of my mouth." She smiled wryly. "An Earth different from yours, with different people... Meaning maybe a different history, and different cities, which could mean different geography."

"Or just named different." Bobbi offered.

"Possibly." The blonde alien sighed. "Can I look at a computer? Maybe look for difference and similarities?" She looked so hopeful that Melinda was tempted to say yes right away. Luckily, Gonzalez answered that she could. Later.

Kara shifted on the bed, before suddenly sitting up straight. "You have Game of Thrones, right? Please say you have that in this world."

Bobbi looked at her tablet. "A Game of Thrones. The first novel in an incomplete series of novels by George R. R. Martin? Is that what you're talking about?"

The blonde had never looked younger as she fell back on the bed like a teenager. "Nooooo. Please, no. No one reads those long ass books. Not even me. It was a tv adaptation on HBO. I just started season six..."

Gonzalez raised an eyebrow at Melinda, who just shrugged her shoulders. Bobbi was biting her lip.

"Let's say that you are an alien, but not just from another world, but from another universe... and you were a hero in that universe, on your Earth..." Director Gonzalez steered back to the subject at hand.

Kara huffed as she sat back up. "Fine. What are you getting at?"

At her question, Director Gonzalez leaned forward. "What exactly can you do?"

"Well, I was... not an agent. I guess you'd consider me an asset, for the D.E.O., the Department of Extranormal Operations. They were a very black ops type of agency that protected the United States from alien threats." Melinda watched as her brow furrowed. "At least, that's how it started, although as super-powered humans started cropping up, they kinda added them to what the patrolled."

"And you, being an alien yourself..."

She shrugged. "You have to understand; just because I'm not from Earth, that it's not home, doesn't mean I mean it or you any harm. Army General Lane, from my reality, he's decided that if you're not human then you're a monster that has to be imprisoned and studied. Even maybe tested on."

"By testing, you mean?"

"Experimented on. There was another agency, sort of, called Cadmus. They took aliens apart and we're doing weird experiments. Trying to duplicate powers. And to see what it took to hurt us, control us."

Melinda noted how as she spoke, Kara went from saying "aliens" to "us." This was personal to her. It scared her, a bit, because it reminded her of Coulson and Skye.

"But you were an agent." Bobbi offered from the door.

She watched as Kara moved her gaze to the blonde S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. "Like I said, I was an asset, not an actual agent. If my sister hadn't been, like, second in command, they'd have probably locked me up. My cousin was enough of a wild card... me being even more powerful was more than anyone would want."

"Are you claiming to be the most powerful person on your Earth?" Bobbi blurted out. Melinda just quirks her eyebrow, but couldn't help but also be interested in the answer.

The cheeks of the young girl on the bed reddened. "It's not like we ever really compared, you know, like a contest or anything. I just was faster, stronger. Raw, but not as... trained, I guess. He'd been Superman for so long. I'd just gotten started, in comparison."

"Superman?"

"My cousin, Kal-El. He was named Superman by Lois Lane, a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis."

As she spoke, Melinda watched as Bobbi started typing on her table. After a moment, she spoke aloud. "Could be a variation of the Daily Bugle in New York City. No Lane working there, however."

"Superman." Melinda prompted.

Kara smiled. "Tall. Muscular. Blue outfit with red cape. Good looking with a middle America kind of look. Truth, justice and the American way."

"That sounds like a cross between Captain America and Thor."

"Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound."

Bobbi laughed. "That's more like Thor." She turned her tablet around to show a nice shot of Thor. Kara smiled, but was already shaking her head in the negative.

"Definitely hot, but nope."

"So, in addition to limited invulnerability, accelerated healing," the Director smoothly returned the conversation back to where he wanted it to go. "Enhanced speed and strength?"

"Uhm..." Kara averted her eyes. "Right."

"So let's talk more about your world..."

…

It took a while to find Kara. The all call had been kept fairly quiet, Director Gonzalez not wanting to unnecessarily alarm the rest of the crew, but trying to prevent a ship wide manhunt meant that only those in the know regarding Kara had to take up the slack. Besides the obviousness of their guest being a complete unknown quantity, there was the fact that if even a small part of her story was true, mainly regarding her abilities, then even if the whole contingent of agents on board the Iliad tried to restrain her, they might still fail. It was not something that made Melinda relax, in the least.

However, the point was moot, since she found the young blonde alien sitting atop the wing of one of the Jump Jets near the port Sid of the aircraft carrier. Melinda tried to quietly approach her quarry, but Kara's voice carried softly to her, though she made no movement to acknowledge her presence.

"I can't find home."

Melinda May turned her gaze skyward at the night sky, in what she hoped was an approximation of were the younger girl was looking. "Home?"

Kara nodded, her fingers pulling the blanket she had around her shoulders tighter. "I'd hoped that Krypton or maybe Rao would be there, but I can't find them." Her voice held a note of true melancholy. "It should be right there," she pointed, "in the southern Corvus constellation, but it's not there."

"Maybe something's blocking the star's light, you mean?" Melinda offered.

Kara smiled sadly. "I can see the planets. The stars. Beyond most telescopes that humanity has created... at least from my Earth. Trust me, my a Krypton isn't there. Like, never was there. It looks similar, but Rao is wrong."

Melinda swallowed. "And Rao is?"

"My world's sun."

Taking a moment to settle her nerves, the agent flipped her com on quickly. "I found her. Drop the search. Over." She turned the receiver off. They could find her if they needed her. Melinda looked to see how Kara had gotten up on the wing. Sighing, she had to take a few minutes to climb around the cockpit and then swing over to the wing where the other girl sat.

At she drew closer, Kara turned and finally pulled her eyes from the heavens above. Her eyes were the bluest Melinda had ever seen, even in the dark. "Sorry if I caused a problem. I really don't mean to be trouble, but.."

"But?" She prompted.

Kara smiled sadly, "but I hoped if I wasn't here, my planet would still be there. I could get answers. Something."

"Gonzalez did offer to help."

"And I appreciate it. Ever since I've been given Internet access, I've been looking over so many things..." Melinda nodded. There was no reason to tell her that they'd been monitoring her computer usage. So far, they'd had to pull in four extra bodies to try and keep up with the amount of content she had gone through; everything from recent history (the emergence of Iron Man to the formation of the Avengers, to Hydra and the dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D.) to worldwide geography. On that, Melinda was sure she was looking for the cities that she called home in her reality. "... Trying to maybe find something of home here."

"Any luck?"

Here, Kara shrugged. "Am I supposed to be a superhero here? Will you even allow that?"

Melinda barked a short laugh to hide how nervous Kara made her. "Allow you? How could we stop you?"

The blonde pushed her hair behind her ear. "After the destruction I caused? How could I ever face anyone ever again?" She continued speaking, even when she could see that Melinda was about to interrupt. "Besides, I'm not much of a solo hero. I liked working with my team. I was the brawn of the team. Heavy thinking and strategy was more Alex's thing. Or Lucy's."

"That bad at planning?"

"No." She ducked her head, almost embarrassed. "Just new at it. Kal-El had been at it for years. Everyone just wanted me to be normal, to stay under the radar. I took up the title of Supergirl to save my sister, and then it took off from there. But that was less than a year ago, although at times it seems like forever."

"Supergirl?"

Kara laughed along with the brunette. "Yeah. Not my choice. Cat Grant, the proclaimed Queen of All Media, threw that name on me before I'd even perfected my costume."

"But... girl?"

"Oh. I know, believe me. I would've gone for something cool, like Captain Marvel or Warbird or something. Not super girl. Ugh. But Kal-El was Superman, so I was Supergirl."

Melinda finally sat, forcing Kara to scoot over. Considering all that she had learned, and going completely on her gut instincts, she leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees. "Maybe you could join us?"

"You mean S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

"Yes. You could help us out." Melinda sighed. "Our world is on the brink of some major changes. We've got alien technology causing genetic changes to humans. A... well, a friend got changed, and she's now with others that changed, like her."

"I-I..." Kara licked her lips. "I always want to help, but I want to go home. I had friends. Family. And my sister, Alex... she's probably going crazy with worry."

Melinda nodded. "And we'd help you try to go home. I promise, but you could change everything here. Help to save so many, do so much good. Help fix some of what your arrival broke." A little guilt never hurt.

Kara looked like she was going to answer, when she suddenly tilted her head. After a brief pause, she rolled her eyes. "Ready to join the conversation?"

Melinda jerked slightly when a voice spoke from the darkness behind her. Apparently, they'd been under observation for a while, but Kara wasn't surprised.

"If you don't mind." Mack offered as he approached.

"What's your take on this?" Kara asked Mack. "You okay with me being part of your team?"

Mack looked uncomfortable at her question, but Melinda shot hm a look and smiled at Kara. "We could help you create a new suit."

"Winn would be jealous. He was my best friend." She explained. "He really designed most of it before the D.E.O. got their hands on material that a civilian couldn't."

"We might be able to requisition a jet pack from Stark." Melinda nodded as Mack finally got with the program.

Kara suddenly grinned and gently grabbed Melinda by her arm. Before she could question the gesture, Kara pulled them both off of the wing. She tensed, ready for the eventual fall, but it never came. They both slowly floated to down to land in front of a gaping Mack.

"Uhm..."

Laughing, Kara curtseyed. "None of that armor and stuff. It'd ruin my girlish figure."

Melinda just stared at the girl. "Care to explain that?"

"While I told you some of what I can do, I left out a lot of the more... well, flamboyant powers in my arsenal."

"Flamboyant?" Mac asked, while Melinda processed. "You can fly?"

Kara nodded. "Fly. Shoot lasers from my eyes. Freeze things with my breath. Hold my breath for hours. All my senses are way off the chart."

"Is that it?" Mack asked.

She laughed. Slowly moving over to the Jump Jet they were just sitting on, Melinda watched as Kara put her hand along the underside and lifted it off the Iliad's landing strip. Kara showed no strain at all.

"I could probably lift this entire ship and carry it to the other side of the world in a couple of hours."

Mack whistled.

Melinda quickly glanced around to see if anyone else was around to see what she was doing. Seeing that they were currently safe from obvious spectators, Melinda quickly moved to Kara. "Maybe we could show off later."

Nodding, Kara's cheeks tinted red as she set the plane back down.

"Definitely a super girl. Come on, Warbird." Melinda smirked as the sparkle returned to those blue eyes. "Let's get you to Gonzalez and the Council, let them know you're in."

…


	2. Look! Up In The

Kara Danver's POV

Kara didn't want to open her eyes.

It was a complete misconception that being powerless was the hardest thing to deal with. Sure, it wasn't anything that she ever looked forward to, but on those extremely rare times that something happened to force Kara to overextend herself, it wasn't as if she was helpless. She'd lived for the first half of her life without the ability to deflect bullets or fly through the atmosphere. But no matter how hard she tried explaining to Alex or Lucy, and even Hank at times, that she was okay… everyone still seemed so concerned to the point that she often wished silently to herself that she wanted to be left alone.

No, it wasn't the fact that the powers were on the fritz that caused her so much pain. It was when the powers all came back. It was crash landing on Earth all over again; the cacophony of lights and sounds and smells. And it wasn't a gradual… "Oh, look; powers. Cool." It was "everything's normal. Boom! Experience everything at once. Now!" And everyone was so happy that they got their Supergirl back.

Kara almost hated her powers.

She could taste the pollution in the air; hear the cries of pain, of loneliness, of despair. The creaks of buildings not built correctly that were barely holding together, and the hum of advanced machinery that filled the air with various electronic waves that might or might not be harmful to their very creators. Tectonic shifts and howling winds, along with chemical filled raindrops that struck the covered ground like bombs. All of it for those few scant moments that seemed like centuries until she could find a way to take it all in again. To cope, yet again, with being more than everyone else.

So Kara liked to keep her eyes closed.

Not sleeping, but resting as she felt the warmth of the sun on her skin.

This time, however, she wanted to keep her eyes shut for more reasons that normal: she needed everything that had happened after the last time she had woken up to be nothing more than a hallucination brought on by too much pizza and not enough sunlight. Anything to stave off the worry that had wormed its way deep into her stomach, leaving her with a truth that she was not where she was supposed to be.

Not at all.

Feigning sleep a little while longer, Kara focused on what she could remember.

oo00OO00oo

Kal-El had called the D.E.O. in a panic, the timber in his voice giving way to the idea that something was definitely wrong. She, along with Lucy, Hank and Alex, had all listened as he rambled on about some world conqueror that had decided that the Earth was next on his list of planets to enslave. Warning shots had both metaphorically and actually been fired with several eruptions of destruction (all without any obvious source) springing up all over Metropolis… so much so, that Kal-El couldn't be in all places at once and it was costing lives.

Superman was screaming for help.

Once again, Kara thought how her way of being a part of a team meant she could do more good than to work alone. She'd yell at him again about it when she saw him next, but now was not the time.

Lucy had quickly moved to another work station and called her father, General Lane, to get his view on what was going on, especially as Kal-El was not making too much sense, a fact that had worried her more than she let on to her sister and the others. Besides, there was so much noise from his end. It was enough to get Kara in the air and headed to her cousin's location at unheard of and previously not attempted speeds. She had Alex on the comm filling her in on everything they could learn, along with words of care and love, as well as the standard, "be careful."

An amazingly brief flight later and Kara, fully into her Supergirl persona, could only look on in horror as skyscrapers seemed to just give up on standing tall towards the Heavens and began to crumble to the ground. She watched as a blue and red blur, Superman obviously, bravely zoomed throughout the building in the hopes of saving everyone. It was a lost cause, one that Kara joined in on to rescue as many as possible… but there was no chance to get to everyone.

Time had lost all meaning after that initial failure. For every three saved, one was lost. Nothing seemed to be making any sense. Kara didn't even realize that Hank, sporting his true Martian form, had at some point joined in. And then even other metas started joining in. Powered individuals that Kara didn't even have names for. It was enough that now it was every nine to one, but that still meant hundreds of lives lost.

Kara only knew that something was really, really wrong when everything around her went silent. Nothing. No background noises from the largest city in the United States. No screams of terror nor calls for help or anything.

It took a moment for Kara to catch up with what happening; the horrified gaze of Hank some meters away from her, his arm outstretched towards her… and the sound of her sister through the Bluetooth in her ear suddenly all too clear.

"Kara! No!"

Then... pain, and lots of it. Her last word had been of her sister. "Allllexxx…"

oo00OO00oo

Kara's eyes itched; the need to weep as she considered what she might have lost. She could wax philosophical about in while lying in a bed somewhere she had no business being.

It had been like suddenly being thrown into a star. All at once there was the pain of every cell in her body suddenly inundated with enough power to right every wrong, fix every problem… with absolutely no chance of blowing out any powers.

Maybe never again.

But then there had been the falling.

Strangely, she remembered Barry. Sweet Barry, who had visited her from another universe. Kara thought about how he described the tunnel, for lack of a better explanation, and how it had to be carefully trod upon lest he got lost. Kara had hit such a tunnel with no control or direction of any type whatsoever. No, she went in like a tiny little metal sphere in a gigantic pinball machine that was being tilted left and right and then thrown down a mountain. Kara apparently had popped out somewhere… somewhere that no one had ever heard of Supergirl or Superman or the D.E.O., much less of Kara Danvers and her family.

Of her sister, Alex.

She considered just wallowing in the soft bed that had been provided for her and to keep ignoring the rest of this strange world for a while longer, but conversations from all over the ship that she was apparently on were going on all around her. And as had been since she apparently had arrived here, Kara was the primary topic of conversation.

In her mind, she could already hear Alex chiding her for hiding under the covers. Putting off the inevitable imaginary conversation that would occur, with the figment of her sister winning every possible argument that Kara might offer as a reason to avoid more of what was sure to be more tedious interviews. The first time she'd woken up, there had been a couple of people in surgical gowns and masks asking her for her name and where she was from. They'd happily written down the name, but when she said she was from National City, she knew something was up.

That had apparently been just the first of very many incorrect answers that she'd provided. National City, Superman, Metropolis, Cat Grant and Catco; she'd tried General Lane and Director Henshaw. Nope. She was certainly not in Kansas anymore. And definitely not from Smallville.

Opening her eyes and sitting up, Kara took stock of the room. She was sure she'd looked at it before, but she had been hurting so bad that the details were lost. There had been doctors and military personnel and people that looked like they belonged at the D.E.O… or some other type of clandestine agency, all wanting a chance to talk to her and find out every little tidbit they could before the next person got their chance to interrogate her after she'd tried answering those first questions. It almost reminded her of those first few encounters with Lucy's dad; suspicious and ready to lock her up and throw away the key.

Thinking over what information she'd already given them, Kara remembered giving them her civilian name… but that was about it, but she was so ready to be left alone so she could heal that she really couldn't recall what all she'd told them outside of asking about people and places that apparently were not here.

Sitting up must have been the signal because Kara could already hear activity building up all around and just outside of her room. She took a moment to run her fingers through her hair and rub any crud from her eyes as she turned and faced the door.

When the door finally opened, an older gentleman in a fairly nice suit and walking with a cane entered the room, flanked by two women and one man. The man looked like a lawyer. The women both reminded her of Alex; from the black, form fitted tactical outfits to the way their eyes appeared to be taking in everything all at once.

From everything that she'd heard throughout the ship, this was apparently the man in charge, Robert Gonzalez. Deciding to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, especially since she really had no idea of where she was or what the people who had apparently saved her wanted, Kara offered the newcomers her brightest smile and tried to appear as non-threatening as possible. She'd give them Kara Danvers, not Kara Zor-El.

"Hi." Gonzalez seemed tilted his head at her greeting. Apparently, her first attempt was not the best start.

"Hello, Ms. Danvers." He replied, his voice quiet and dark. "I was hoping now that you are awake if we might have a conversation."

Here we go...

...

Grant Ward's POV

They were doomed... and the mission was destined to fail.

In the sum years of his life, Grant Ward had been thought to be a wide range of things: a son, a brother, a friend, a lover, a soldier, a spy, a patriot, and a traitor. The list was near endless, and while to others his motivation for a lot of those titles might seem hard to grasp… but to him… it was all a matter of staying true to himself. To let the world react to whom he was, both the face he presented to the world and the one that was his true personality.

And by being true he had been able to steer his own way, already prepared for the obstacles that would try to stand in his way. It had given him the opportunity to witness so many amazing and wondrous things, especially over the past year or so. How technology had advanced; changes in government and economy; countries and allegiances and borders. Friendships and loyalties. Even the natural disasters (such as the meteor strike last month). But now, however, his faith was shaken towards the current leadership… even quite possibly the overall direction, of Hydra.

Hydra's coming out of the shadows, whether ultimately forced by Rogers or by other design, had not been the planned triumphant reveal they had been hoping. Unfortunately, they were once again seen as the "bad guys" versus S.H.I.E.L.D.'s attempt at being the "good guys" in the scenario, no matter that they lost… but Hydra had not taken its place. No. Now they had both S.H.I.E.L.D. and Hydra fighting a secret war against one another, each seeking to eliminate the other completely.

Grant Ward felt that, in this instance, S.H.I.E.L.D. was right. After all, that was one of the primary reasons for his agreeing to this little jaunt into the Arctic. Dr. List and the section of Hydra that he was a part of needed to be taken down. Humanity needed to continue to determine their own destiny… and having people like Mike Peterson (or Deathlok as Coulson liked to call him) and this Lincoln guy, as well as Skye (with her new weird abilities) and the whole hidden base of super powered people.

Dr. List couldn't be allowed to continue along with Strucker's experiments. He had to be stopped. All of them had to be stopped.

Now, if they could only get away from the hail of gunfire pinning them down in the underground chamber they found themselves trapped in.

ooo000OOO000ooo

"We're trapped." Jemma called out from behind the desk where she was currently hidden. Gunfire filled the room, making it harder to even think, much less communicate with the rest of the team.

Grant looked down at the weapon in his hand. All that he currently had were the few remaining rounds for the submachine gun, plus the pistol and spare clip at his side. Glancing over at the rest, it really didn't look good.

May was in the far corner. She seemed to have the most ammunition, but the worst vantage to respond to their attackers. Simmons was going to be useless. Bakshi was definitely a no go; giving him a weapon right now would be a quick way to get a bullet in the back. Skye was down; the victim of circumstance when the wall behind her crumbled, piling on top of her and thereby eliminating their super-powered advantage. Coulson and Fitz were somewhere else… hopefully not in as precarious of a situation as they were.

Frankly, a miracle was needed.

Grant attempted to provide cover fire to maybe get May closer to his position, but it was a futile effort. The Hydra agents seemed ready for the maneuver, and when she started to move, the gunfire had increased significantly. All in all, they were in a really bad spot.

"Enough of this." May suddenly stated as she sat down on the floor and leaned back against the metal desk she was using as cover. "Time to make a call."

Grant wanted to ask what she was doing, but never had the chance. He watched as Melinda tapped her Bluetooth.

"Warbird? Come in, Warbird."

He could hear everything… everybody on the team could hear Melinda, since their communication earpieces were all set to the same channel.

"May?" A voice answered.

"Warbird. We need support."

"I thought we were going with Marvel now?" The female voice responded.

Grant watched as Melinda gritted her teeth. "Warbird. Captain Marvel. Supergirl. Whatever! Just get your little alien tushie to my location ASAP, little Miss Marvelous, or I'll ground you for a month!"

Alien?

"You won't do that…"

"Try me." May responded dryly.

"You don't scare me." The voice sing-songed back. "I still have video of you getting sick from when we went to have Thai..."

Melinda May… the Calvary, as she had been named, blushed. Actually blushed. "I'll sic Bobbi and Gonzalez on you." She retorted.

Laughter filled Grant's head from the earpiece, as the young woman's voice carried. By now, everyone was staring at Melinda with surprised looks. He was sure his own was equally as shocked.

"You know you love me."

May seemed almost calm now, talking to the woman's voice… completely ignoring the occasional spurt of gunfire that continued, although it seemed to be lessening since no one was really firing back at them. "Kara…"

"Fine." Kara sounded like she was pouting. "At least you're not calling me Carol this time."

"Can you please get here? We're kinda trapped."

There was no response for a few moments. When the stranger's voice finally answered, she sounded like there was some interference… like she was near an open window of a fast moving car.

"Can you say something aloud for me? Just need a point of reference." The voice explained.

"Really?"

The woman on the other end of the com laughed again. "Perfect. Five."

Grant knew his eyebrows were lifted as he wondered what this Warbird... Kara (or whatever she wanted to be called) continued to speak. Five?

"Four."

Was she counting down?

"Three."

Okay, this was ridiculous. Who was this person?

Two."

He wondered, for a moment, what would happen when she reached one. They were in the remote Arctic at a hidden Hydra base that they had barely infiltrated, and they were currently somewhere between three to seven floors below the frozen surface. There was no way…

His thoughts were interrupted violently as the entire room, maybe the entire base, started to shake. Grant looked over at May, whose expression has turned smug. She positioned herself at the ready, guns up. He glanced over to where everyone else was and saw that they all seemed unsure of what was going to happen next.

"Stop!" Someone from the hallway screamed as heavy gunfire started up again, although nothing was aimed into the room. "No!" "Look out!" Gunfire and small explosions seemed to fill the corridor outside the room they were in.

He stood from his hiding spot, following May's example, as she stood, as well. Everyone seemed to be relaxing even as the shouts and screams, all punctuated by gunfire and explosions seemed to keep going off, though it was apparently winding down.

Simmons took off towards where Skye was laying. After a few moments of checking vitals and worrying over the prone woman, she finally sighed at leaned back. When May approached the young scientist, the younger agent answered without the question being asked.

"Skye's okay. She should wake up on her own fairly soon. I can't discern any threatening damage or injury, but we'll need to do a full workup once we're out of here."

May nodded. After checking her weapons, she took some of the spare ammo and handed it out to everyone else.

It was Bakshi that finally broke the silence of the moment and asked the question that was on everyone's mind. "What was that?"

Melinda looked up at the Hydra agent and smirked. "That was…"

"Whew." A voice suddenly called from the doorway. Immediately, Grant turned and raised his weapon, firing off three perfect shots at the figure standing in the doorway.

His aim was perfect, as always. Three direct hits to the upper torso. Heart shots. The person who was standing there, watching him, should've been on the floor, dead… or, at the very least, dying. Instead, a pair of blue eyes beneath blonde hair looked him over before moving on to May.

"One." She said.

Grant Ward took a moment to take in the woman who, to all appearances, was not injured from his shots in the slightest. She was dressed in a similar style as to the typical S.H.I.E.L.D. uniform, but with some obvious changes. Rather than the near dark blue to black most agents had worn, hers was a lighter blue and red straps, gloves and boots, with a stylized golden star pattern at the center of her breast.

May rolled her eyes. "Are we safe?"

"All clear." Grant watched as she looked around the room, her gaze coming across as more than examining the room. "The path I took once I breached the main level is still clear. I see some stragglers, six, I think, two floors up and…" She paused, "maybe another twelve on the bottom level."

"What about the rest of the team and the objective?"

The blonde began looking at the floor again, this time turning away from them. "Two, whom I am assuming are Coulson and Fitz are helping a cyborg of some type from a cell. There is another cell with a young man in it. There are no hostiles near them."

What?! Grant was flabbergasted.

And Jemma was, as well, apparently. "How do you know all of this? What are you" She asked.

Warbird (or Kara, as May had referred to her) looked at the scientist who was still kneeling next to Skye, before returning her attention to May. "Are they cleared?"

Melinda nodded. "They are. Level Five."

"Understood." The woman seemed to relax a bit before she turned to stare at Grant. Her blue eyes seemed really, really dangerous all of the sudden. "Former Agent Ward." As she said his name, she opened her hand and the three bullets he'd fired at her fell to the ground. Apparently, she'd caught them. "Don't do that again."

Grant swallowed. Twice. "Okay."

She continued to stare at him before she finally walked over to where Jemma and Skye were. "I can see where everyone is in this installation."

"How?"

Melinda interrupted before the strange woman could answer. "We need to complete the mission." She turned to look at the newcomer. Kara, can you get to Coulson and make sure they make it to the surface safely?"

Kara saluted. "Yes, ma'am."

Before Grant could blink, she was gone.

Maybe the mission wasn't destined to fail, he considered as he glanced back at the rest of the group. And maybe they weren't doomed... at least, not yet.

…

Maria Hill's POV

Watching over her monitor, she still couldn't believe that Stark's creation had created such havoc across the globe, and was now somehow levitating a huge chunk of a European city thousands of feet in the air, threatening to drop it back down to the earth below. The resulting explosion would be worse than the meteor strike last month.

The Black Widow's voice suddenly became clear over the comm. "Where else am I gonna get a view like this?"

"Glad you like the view, Romanoff." Hill rolled her eyes at former Director Nick Fury's reply. "It's about to get better."

He paused dramatically as the helicarrier rose above the edge of the flying chunk of the city near where several of the Avengers were all standing. "Nice, right? Pulled her out of mothballs… with a couple of old friends. She's dusty, but she'll do."

Out of mothballs was right, Maria thought to herself. Coulson had pulled a rabbit out of the proverbial hat to have this baby back in service. That he'd found the original helicarrier, which had been scrapped for parts to be used for the new ones destroyed during the Hydra events, and then had it restored; it was an amazing job.

"Fury, you son of a bitch." Captain America's voice broke over the com. Maria smiled.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth?" Her former boss bantered back.

One of the many former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents called out, "Altitude is eighteen thousand and climbing." He checked his screen before continuing, "Lifeboats secure to deploy. Disengage in three, two... take them out."

"This is S.H.I.E.L.D.?" A voice asked over the Comm.

"This is what S.H.I.E.L.D. is supposed to be." It sounded like Barton answered the unknown woman.

That same female voice spoke again. "This is not so bad."

It was going too well, she thought as she looked over the hundreds of people clamoring for a spot on one the flying ships ready to bring them safely over to the helicarrier. As she watched the first wave of boats moving over to them, Maria noticed how many of the robots began to leave the fighting with the Avengers and towards the seemingly helpless rescues.

"Sir, we have multiple bogies converging on our starboard flank," someone drew her attention over to where even more drones were gaining on the lifeboats.

Maria looked over at Nick. He almost looked like he was smiling in anticipation as he turned to give her the go-ahead. "Show 'em what we got."

She nodded her head once in response and touched the special com. On her left ear to activate their response team. "Your guys are up."

For a moment, Maria felt like she was back working with S.H.I.E.L.D. during the good ol' days… well, the good ol' days but now packing some serious heavy hitters. From her vantage on the bridge, the windows suddenly showed two new persons joining the fray. The first was Colonel James Rhodes, who was wearing his trademarked War Machine armor. Already, she could see his various weapons coming on line; the computer in front of her showing all of the system at one hundred percent, and ready to start kicking some metal ass. But it was the second figure that Maria's eyes, and almost everyone else's eyes, were watching.

Director Robert Gonzalez, the current head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (How Phil had lost the position still irked her!), had immediately offered his support by way of essential staff and weapons... and for his latest recruit: Agent Kara Danvers, code named Warbird (today anyway), to assist in whatever capacity might be required.

It had initially irked her, this blonde twenty something cheerleader... but then she had looked over what he was offering... what said cheerleader supposedly was able to do. From all that Maria had read in the heavily redacted file sent over, Danvers might well be the heavy gun the good guys needed.

"Yes!" She heard Colonel Rhodes talking as he quickly went through several of the Ultron drones that were trying to overtake the ships carrying refugees. "Now this is gonna be a good story."

Her "for-the-moment" employer, Tony Stark, currently in his Iron Man armor, joined the two in protecting the lifeboats. "Yup. If you live to tell it."

"You think I can't hold my own?" Rhodes asked, his guns tearing through the robots all around him.

Neither of the two men was paying any attention to the fact that for every one of the Ultron clones they took down, ten were being destroyed around them. Agent Danvers was covering their backs.

Oblivious, Stark laughed at Rhodes. "We get through this… I'll hold your own."

"You had to make it weird."

"You're both weird." Kara interjected hovering above them as she literally ripped another one of the robots apart barehanded that were flying towards the two armored heroes, before throwing the two halves towards two more that were approaching. "And wasting time."

"Who's your girlfriend?"

Hill listened as Colonel Rhodes laughed. "She's the one that's gonna put all of us out of business."

"Yeah? Not likely." Stark replied back. "Besides, can she do this?" Iron Man's repulsors suddenly fired off an intense white, shredding through several of the drones that were approaching.

The young blonde shook her head, most likely at Tony's antics, and then turned to face several of the coming hordes. War Machine called out as she moved to intercept them. "I got about fifty to a hundred more coming in after this group."

"I got it" was all that Warbird said over the comm.

Maria watched as a beam of… well, something… suddenly shot out from Kara Danvers eyes; intensely blue white in color, and practically disintegrating anything and everything that it touched. All of the Ultron drones in the immediate vicinity all seemed to go down… those that still had enough parts to be considered able to fall.

Even from the helicarrier, Maria could feel the smirk that Kara was giving the two boys before she zoomed off towards where the rest of the fighting was happening.

Tony Stark's com went off. "Well, okay," he stuttered dryly.

"Try to keep up, boys."

The world was on the edge of ending and Maria couldn't help but laugh. Warbird was here to save the day.

….

Steve Roger's POV

"It really is alright, ya know. You can call me Kara." The young woman smiled brightly as she brushed her hair behind her ear. Steve noticed how her hand moved towards her nose, almost as if she were going to adjust some nonexistent pair of glasses. She seemed so young and innocent sitting across from him, dressed in a flower print sundress and wearing sandals. So different front the imposing alien warrior he'd fought alongside just weeks ago. "I really don't mind."

They were sitting at a small table outside of the coffee shop that he had found, quite possibly the only one left in the city, that served actual coffee and not the ice cream coffee treats that Americans now seemed to mistakenly refer to as coffee. Both were in civilian attire.

From his vantage, he could see Tony's tower; the top six floors still damaged. Stark Tower... Briefly Avengers Tower. Now... maybe nothing.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Kara, then." She smiled. "After your help in, well, you know..."

"With the robot thingie your guy created and then let escape who tried to destroy the entire planet and then did destroy an entire city." Agent Danvers leaned on the table, ignoring the coffee she had taken a sip of before wrinkling her nose at the offending drink. "Yeah. You're welcome. I'm always glad to help."

"And that's what I wanted to talk to you about." He shifted in his seat. "We would like for you to join us. The Avengers, I mean. We... I think, you would make an amazing difference to our team. We could definitely use you."

Kara smiled. "Wow. Okay. I definitely didn't expect that. The Avengers."

"So that's a yes?"

She pushed her hair back from her face again. "I really appreciate the offer, Steve. I really do." She took a sip of her coffee again. He almost laughed as she made a face again. The coffee was definitely not to her liking. "I'm not sure how comfortable I am working with some of your team..." Before he could respond, she continued on. "Mr. Stark seems nice, in a creepy slash sleazy kind of way, but he built a killer robot. And he doesn't really seem to own up to the fact that he is somewhat responsible for everything that went down."

Steve nodded. "And if I said Tony's out?"

After a momentary look of surprise, Kara leaned back in her chair. "You're rebuilding." It wasn't a question.

"We are." He took a drink of his own coffee. "Thor has... business, I suppose you'd say, at... home, I guess. Iron Man is on leave. I don't know for how long. Hawkeye is on leave since his wife just had a baby. And Dr. Banner is AWOL."

He took a breath. "We've got Colonel Rhodes joining, as well as the Vision and Wanda signing on. Rhodes is a solid recruit, but the other two, while they did admirably during the Ultron fiasco, they're unknown and untrained. You are somewhat still an unknown, but you definitely know what you are doing."

The young woman in front of him blushed. "I didn't expect flattery."

Steve smiled. "You deserve it. We might not have succeeded as well as we did without you. Kara... you held up and actually lifted that city into the atmosphere. I can't even calculate the millions of tons that must have been. I'm not sure that Tony could. You were able to take it high enough into our atmosphere that the damage to the ground was so much less."

"Sadly, it's not the first time I had to lift something like that."

He nodded. "Exactly. The Avengers need you."

Kara sighed. "You know I'm going to have to say no, right?"

Disappointment struck him then. It had been a long shot, but he'd been hopeful. Agent Danvers was like he was in the beginning; bright, hopeful and full of the American Dream. Everything Steve felt like he wasn't any more.

"I'd hoped."

"You are an amazing man, Captain Rogers. I mean that sincerely. And your team is something I wish I'd been able to see created where I'm from. All those powers, all together, helping. I love it. But I made a deal with S.H. . I know you've had some bad experiences with what they were, but they've changed. They are helping me, and in return, I'm helping them."

"I can respect that."

"I'm glad." Kara pushed the nearly untouched cup of coffee away from her. "And if you need me, you know how of find me."

Steve grinned cheekily. "Just scream 'help. Supergirl. Save me?'"

She rolled her eyes. "I'm going to kill May for letting you see my file. Top secret, my foot."

"Yeah, well. I had to pull quite a few strings and threaten to kick some secret agency ass to get a sit down with you."

Not a new teammate, but an ally... and maybe... a new friend, he thought, as she smirked at him.

"You kiss your mother with that mouth, Captain America?"

He couldn't give his reply in the company of a lady.

…


	3. Able to Leap Tall

Daisy Johnson/Quake's POV

She watched as Lincoln, her on-again/off-again boyfriend (currently off, by the way) tried again to steal a French fry from one of the many bags-o-plenty that Kara had brought onto the plane. For the life of her, Daisy just couldn't understand how the young girl (ignoring the fact that Daisy was sure Kara was actually older... but different Earth, different rules... and no one was counting her supposed time in space time stasis!) was able to constantly be eating. Looking around the plane's cabin, there were all sorts of discarded wrappers and food containers.

"Ow!" Lincoln exclaimed loudly. Daisy rolled her eyes at his obvious failure to be sneaky.

Chuckles and soft laughter filled the previous silence. Whitley and Bobbi shared a grin, while Hunter offered Lincoln a pat on his shoulder, an apologetic "good try, mate" offered in shared commiseration. The Brit had tried earlier for an egg roll. Daisy still wasn't sure whether Kara had been serious or not when she'd threatened to perfectly pulverize every bone in his hand if he actually touched her food. Hunter had wisely chosen to not chance it.

Her musings of her teammates during this rare downtime between missions was abruptly ended when she herd the monitor chime ding. Someone was calling.

"Monitor on." Bobbi spoke quickly. The keyboard actually being close to the statuesque blonde for once. Anything tech-y usually was near Daisy.

The whole group swiveled to face the screen. Kara even dropped the fries she had been munching on back into the bag. It took just a moment for the screen's pixelation to clear, leaving the team to see the dour face of Rosalind Price... one third of the ruling body of the new and improved S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Agents," Co-Director Price began, "the situation in Vienna has now reached a critical level and is in danger of creating worldwide tensions that could have and should have been already contained and avoided." The woman took a deep breath. "Captain Rogers has gone completely rogue. And worse, several of his team, the Avengers, have sided with him against the United States government, as well as against the direct instructions from the U.N."

"What?" Kara exclaimed, saying out loud what Daisy was sure everyone else was thinking. She wondered, briefly, if Kara was thinking back to the offer she had received from the now hunted rogue superhero. "Who all...?"

"At last count, Agents Romanoff, Carter and Barton have been classified as secondary targets. As well as Wilson and Maxinoff. Intelligence also lists the possibility of up to for others, but as of yet the Intel is unconfirmed. Stark is an unknown quantity. He was initially agreeable to the Accords, but he never signed."

Daisy held in a shudder at the thought of Kara, if she'd accepted Roger's offer, being classified as such.

Co-Director Price was nodding. "I understand that this is certainly shocking to all of you. Captain Rogers was instrumental in rooting out the infiltration of Hydra in our numbers previously. And I know that he is the subject of much hero worship and respect, not only in the ranks of S.H.I.E.L.D., but also to many of those with powers.

"But be that as it may, Captain Rogers is not above the Law. Not American law, and especially not against International law. We are tasking your team with the directive to immediately seek out and apprehend Captain Rogers, by any means necessary."

Daisy felt her mouth go dry. Lance Hunter took the initiative to ask the question. "Is lethal force allowed?" He paused to swallow. "We're good, but taking him ain't going to be easy."

Even Kara was nodding.

She watched the older woman lean back, her hands carefully folded on the desk in front of her. "This is not a dead-or-alive order. Rogers is to be apprehended. That being said, all force other than an ordered kill shot is currently sanctioned."

"Is it just us?" Daisy inquired. Surely they weren't alone going up against the Avengers.

"Upon arrival at Leipzig/Halle Airport, you'll be met by the remaining Avenger team members that have signed the Accords, and have been also instructed to aid in the capture of Rogers and his compatriots.

"Good luck, and may God be with you."

The young Inhuman closed her eyes after he monitor went dark. Co-Director Rodriguez, as well as Coulson, had warned them team... not just the metas, but everyone... that by signing the Sokovia Accords willingly, that they might come into conflict with others. She just never imagined a scenario where Captain America and most of the Earth's mightiest heroes went against America, much less the world.

She jokingly thought to herself that him being a secret Hydra agent was about on likely with what they'd all just heard.

When she opened them back up, Daisy watched as Kara passed her remaining food into the center of the table, apparently her appetite having left, and stood, then moving towards the back area of their transport where everyone's uniforms and gear was located.

It took less time than it would take to explain before each of them was dressed and ready. In her mind, she already was moving to code names and call signs for them all. Mockingbird (Bobbi Morse) was adjusting her belt, while next to her, Xerox (Alisha Whitley) was checking her reloads for her Night-Night pistol. Livewire's (Lincoln Campbell) face was now grim. Kara had laughed when Lincoln had come up with the name. Deadshot (Lance Hunter) had caused a similar reaction.

Kara Danvers sided up next to her, their reflection just as impressive as the real thing, as the two young women stood side by side; Warbird and Quake. Between just the two of them... especially when they worked in tangent, the chance of major damage was increased a thousandfold.

God help them, and whoever went up against them, indeed.

...

Bobbi Morse/Mockingbird's POV

Everything was black.

...ooo000O000ooo...

Did you ever wonder if there were people in the world, special people, who maybe could somehow mentally receive information about other worlds? Other universes? That maybe made up fictional stories were true life somewhere else? Could it be possible? That maybe some author out there right now was dreaming up some crazy story that was actually happening in some distant alternative elseworld story too fantastical to exist anywhere else but on the movie screen or to be found within the pages of the latest young adult best seller?

Currently, Bobbi was thinking about this very thing as she contemplated the striking similarities between Agent Kara Danvers (aka Supergirl, aka Warbird, aka Captain Marvel, aka whatever the hell she decided to call herself tomorrow...) and the cartoon character Mighty Mouse.

It was easier to go over how both could fly, had super strength, were bulletproof and had an amazing and near unlimited pool of powers and abilities not available to mere mortals... yes, easier than facing the reality that she was flat on her back gasping for her next breath, wondering just how hard she'd been hit that her legs both seemed unable to function and that her left arm was most definitely broken; and from the shape of said arm, in at least three places. It would make sense, as she'd taken a direct hit the giant currently getting his ass handed to him by Kara.

God, she loved that cute little blonde Mighty Mouse. Here I come to save the day! She could almost hear Kara saying something like that before flying off.

Bobbi closed her eyes.

...ooo000O000ooo...

Awareness returned as the world around her rumbled and shook. What sounded like several bombs exploding all at once filled her ears and rattled at her bones. Bobbi still couldn't seemed to catch her breath... maybe some ribs were broken, too?

She could smell ozone. And gas. And fire... well, maybe it was the sound of a heavy whoosh and the accompanying heat that made her think she only smelled flames. Maybe?

Blackness returned as she closed her eyes again.

...ooo000O000ooo...

Memories returned.

It had gone pear shaped before they'd even arrived. Everyone was fighting. There was a light show that DisneyLand would pay millions for going on free of charge, as armored suits flew about the landing strip, a girl dressed in red waved her hands around like a stage show magician and light surrounded e erythronium and forced it to move at her apparent direction. A man with metal wings fired pistols at a flying robotic man that fired beams of light from his forehead, while a kid shot ropes at everyone and a guy dressed in red, white and blue threw a shield around ricocheting it off of everything.

Without even landing, Kara had opened the plane's bay door and flown out to try and stop the madness before it was too late... never truly appreciating that it had already been too late before they'd ever been told of the mission.

Over their comms, they listened as Kara told everyone to start acting like the heroes they were meant to be. She spoke from the heart, telling them the dire cliff they faced if they followed their path towards becoming vigilantes, of witnessing one of her world's greatest heroes fall from being a great detective and inspiration to a dark city into a brooding nightmare that even the other heroes feared to cross.

And for a moment, it almost appeared to work. Even Hunter beside her, his guns at the ready, had to wipe at the moisture at the corner of his eyes. It could end peacefully.

That had been when the man in the black catsuit had attacked. There had been a moment where Kara had screamed "no!" In the vain attempt to stop the attempt, but for naught. He was fast, a meta most certainly, and he had attacked Barnes, which had led to the conflict to begin again.

But Kara's plea for peace had given her team the chance to disembark and get into position. It had been with a heavy heart that Bobbi had to order the attack. Her gaze was on the young alien girl... and she watched as her sad gaze morphed into determination.

Before she blacked out again, Bobbi smiled at remembering watching Kara take down the cat suited guy, as well as Barnes.

...ooo000O000ooo...

Sanity and much more rational thought seemed to come to her as wonderful, delicious oxygen finally filled her lungs. Finally. With air came the maybe realization that she wasn't done for just yet. Bobbi blinked several times to further clear any lingering cobwebs (and none from the tween whoever that Tony had recruited!) that might still be around.

Turning her head to the left, she could see the smoldering remains of the plane that the giant dude had landed on. There were several heroes and now classified former heroes down. From her low vantage, she could see where it looked like Barton, Falcon and maybe a few others motionless (including several of Xerox's copies) several yards away. Beyond them, several of the joint commando teams made up of S.H.I.E.L.D. and U.N. Special Forces were taking The Witch and Romanov into custody.

Slowly, Bobbi shifted her head and looked over to her right.

Ah.

There is where the insanity was.

That giant was down. All around him were the remains of the hanger and, not just the one, but several planes; all on fire. Colonel Rhodes was out of his armor being held under armed guard, the suit destroyed from what little she could see of what remained. Beyond him, there more figures being detained.

And it seemed someone had finally noticed her, as she could see medical personnel approaching quickly. And with Quake.

"You back with us, Bobs?"

Daisy had looked better. Her suit was torn in several places, obvious signs of heavy bruising and cuts where skin was visible. She was favoring her right side heavily, and was holding both arms carefully up and away from touching anything. Those vibrational cracks and fractures she got from using her powers too much must have occurred again. And really badly, if Bobbi was to guess.

Licking her lips, she answered that she was okay. She'd ignore how badly her voice sounded. Trying again, she managed to sound slightly better. "Report."

Her second-in-command nodded. "Everyone but Kara is down." Daisy started. "Linc and Hunter went down first after dealing with that Witch. They also made it where Whitley could take down that kid in the pajamas and Barton. Carter, Wilson and Romanoff got taken down by Rhodes and that Vision robot, but the War Machine armor is finished. The robot stopped fighting when most of the combatants either went down or fled."

Daisy stopped her report while the med techs moved Bobbi around and finally injected her with some pain relief. She nodded for the younger girl to continue.

"Kara went full super when you got hit and went down. I hit the ground too make the big guy fall and then she laid him out. Apparently he's got a glass jaw... or anything she hits should be considered glass. I got hit, I think it was Barnes. Maybe Rogers. Think I should eBay pictures? This bruise caused by Captain America. Might make some bank."

At that, Bobbi did chuckle... and then paid for it when she was reminded, quite forcefully, that her ribs were indeed broken. Daisy at least had the courtesy to look guilty.

Their time was running out as the emergency personnel seemed to finally be ready to move her to the gurney, having apparently stabilized her enough for government work, which meant that further reporting would have to wait. But she had to know...

"Where's Kara?"

The younger agent sighed. Walking next to the gurney carrying Bobbi, the girl glanced off into the distance. West, maybe. "Stark, Rogers and Barnes maybe all took off in a quinjet. No one is sure where they got it unless Stark snuck it in or we have a turncoat on our side."

"I thought Barnes had been down."

Daisy shrugged. "I thought so, too, but he's not accounted for. And I'm pretty sure from what we're being told that Rogers wouldn't have left him behind."

"Kara?" She prompted.

"She went after them. Made sure everyone against us was down and then took off faster than a speeding bullet."

As the ambulances doors were closing, Bobbi had one last order. "Find Kara. Let's get her whatever support we can."

Her last view was of Daisy nodding before she turned and started yelling for a computer and a way to connect to a WiFi.

...

Colonel Glenn Talbot's POV

"Agent Danvers," he tried to keep the frustration from slipping out. "While I appreciate your candor regarding these proceedings, I would like to reiterate that I need your answers to remain on topic."

For possibly the hundredth time since the interview process had begun, he questioned his own sanity at ever accepting President Ellis' naming him one of the three Co-Directors of S.H.I.E.L.D. once the agency had been reactivated. It had seemed a natural evolution for his career; a perfect stepping stone in his bid for both higher rank in the U.S. Military, as wee as his political aspirations later on. On paper, it was the logical move.

Unfortunately, reality was proving to be something completely different.

The headaches grew first and foremost due to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s inclusion of enhanced operatives. Again, on paper it made sense. There had always been quiet rumblings of X-File like events, all very hush hush. Area 51 and all that. But the governments and armed forces of the world hid most of it... and whatever was completely hidden... well, tabloids were there for a reason. The system worked.

Of course that all had to change. Since the New York Incident, everybody was aware now; had some inkling of the truth previously obscured from the general public's view. No one felt as safe today as they had yesterday.

That's why the Avengers had started out so successfully, without the normal questions that such a group should have sparked. But gifted individuals being around led to questions about what your very day, regular Joe could offer in the way of providing security and peace. How were the men and women in blue, much less the Armed Forces, supposed to deal with such rising and terrifying opponents to be eventually faced. What good were bullets to a giant green behemoth with rage issues and a perchance for large scale destruction? It was inevitable that the procurement of super-powered beings would begin in countries around the world; even private corporations.

Talbot was still flabbergasted that Stark had admitted publicly to wearing the Iron Man armor. The opportunity lost for Stark Industries to have a figurehead of such immediate attention showed a major lack of foresight on its creator's part.

In fact, having Colonel Rhodes obtaining the War Machine armor for the Air Force had been a gigantic coup. It had been an utter failure that the deal with Hammer Technologies, plus the Senate Committee's loss, had stonewalled any future potential acquisition of such technology.

But Coulson and his ragtag bunch of agents, floundering in the wake of Hydra's infiltration and eventual dismantling of S.H.I.E.L.D., had succeeded in a direction that no one else had considered, much less even dreamed of discovering: first, naturally occurring meta-humans... and then second, aliens.

It was a member of the second group that was currently causing his frustration.

"I'm sorry, Colonel, but I'm not sure what exactly you're wanting me to say." The blonde girl... alien girl smiled prettily. "I just..."

"You just want authorization to... what?" He picked up the paper in front of him, reading it out loud. "Patrol various metropolitan areas in order to provide non requested citizen assistance for criminal and/or potentially dangerous situations, as such that you can provide?" He pulled the reading glasses from off his nose. "Is that correct?"

No matter how young and beautiful Agent Danvers was... ignoring that she was currently the only Level Ten Plus classified meta-being thought to be on the Earth currently... Talbot was not going to let one of his agents run around patrolling the streets like the so-called Devil of Harlem or that Jones woman that supposedly saved dozens of New Yorkers from some form of mass hypnosis.

"I just want to help." She replied softly, her words the same as had been stated when this conversation had begun forty-three minutes prior.

He straighten his uniform's tie. "I get that. I do. I became a soldier to help. But there are rules. There are procedures." Talbot sighed. "S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot be seen as a group of gifted individuals that randomly seek out crimes in the hopes of stopping them. Even the Avengers during their heyday didn't have that type of autonomy. And now, you more than anyone should realize that the Sokovia Accords were just the beginning. It's a fine line."

Talbot held up his hand to stop her obvious rebuttal. "And yes, I know that you're going to bring up the video of this Luke Cage character that threw the cop across the street onto his car. And about all of the other stories coming in from New York and other cities... but until we're called upon, we cannot simply go out there and do whatever we want.

"I get that this upsets you, Kara. But this is the way it has to be... at lest, for right now."

She stood then, her hands smoothing down the bright blue of her uniform and adjusting the pentagon shaped buckle along her bright red sash. "Thank you for your time, Director Talbot."

He smiled sadly. "Dismissed, Agent Danvers."

...ooo000O000ooo...

"I'm worried."

He glanced over to where Robert Gonzalez sat. One of the Co-Directors for S.H.I.E.L.D., the man seemed to exude confidence; a trait that Talbot admired, if a fact that he kept to himself. Gonzalez spun the cane beneath is open palm while he sipped at the scotch that the third Co-Director had poured for him moments ago.

The room was dimly lit, with the three of them around a circular table. Behind each of the co-directors sat an aide. He had a random captain currently seated behind his own chair. Talbot couldn't really see who was seated behind the others.

Rosalind Price sat back down and asked the inevitable. "What has you worried, Robert?"

The elder of the three of them set his glass down. "I've had several different groups all researching the same problem: the increase of metas that are out there. Each group worked individually from the others, each without knowledge that any other team was working on the same project."

"And?" Talbot asked.

"And..." Gonzalez stopped playing with his cane. "And they all are coming up with the same conclusions. Where we were looking in previous decades at a less than zero point zero two percent possibility of any meta gene forming at birth, or experiencing a meta-causing event during their lifetime."

"So."

"Now, we're looking at a solid one percent chance at birth or during their lifetime." He took another sip of his drink. "In the U.S. alone, that changes the probability of over sixty-three thousand potentially with powers versus the three million we could be dealing with within the next twenty years. And that is in America, by itself."

Talbot finished his own drink and contemplated just brining the entire bottle back to the table. "Three million?"

The man sitting across from him nodded. "That's conservative. Agents Fitz and Simmons both argued for a much higher number. They referenced the Terrigen Crystals that were to be potentially used to create more... what did they call it?"

Agent Weaver, apparently his aide his evening, leaned forward to whisper in Gonzalez's ear. "Oh, right. To make more Inhumans."

Price nodded. "It was lucky that Jiaying's plot was thwarted."

"By Agent Danvers. Again." Talbot sighed. "She is an amazing asset, beyond anything anyone else has access to. She even beats the results Secretary Ross forwarded to me in regards to the Hulk in brute strength... and her arsenal of powers and abilities are staggering. Unmatched."

"You have a concern?" Gonzalez inquired. Talbot didn't miss the slight edge to the other man's tone.

"I do."

"Well? Do speak up." Rosalind pressured.

He had to be careful about this. Delicate, if he hoped to succeed. "She's beginning to question her role in S.H.I.E.L.D. There's a lot of near on insubordination. Not just towards me, but for any in the chain of command. And with her, the entire team is starting to push back. It makes for a potentially volatile situation. One that we can't afford.

"She is ours, but if that were to change in the future. Or if she just stopped following orders..."

"Their success rate is near about one hundred percent, excluding some of the relief efforts from the Event when she arrived. She and the entire team have several commendations from not just our President, but from the United Nations, as well as many foreign governments, as well." Price offered. "What are you wanting to do? Bench her?"

"No. Of course not." Talbot smiled. "I was thinking of seeing if Agent Danvers, and the others on her team, in fact, would agree to a few tests..."

... ... ...

Holden Radcliffe's POV

He quickly continued typing, trying to not lose the flow of words he needed his asset to say to the others in the room. Tedious work. Not like before.

It had been quite exhilarating earlier, dealing with the alien and wondering if she actively used any of her passive abilities. The fact that form what he'd been able to discern, her hearing could pick up various frequencies well beyond human capability... it would have been a simple thing for Kata Danvers to realize that she was being observed.

The opportunity to skip the artificial enhancements; to move into meta-organic upgrades... it would be beyond cutting edge, leaving all of the others in this field behind. He had to get samples, at the very least. To have any of the actual subjects, here and whole. It was his new dream come true.

Now he just needed to procure one of them.

More, if possible.


End file.
